CDC Raises Monkeypox Alert Level, Advises Travelers to Wear Masks Despite It Not Being Airborne
Hysteria generator set on “maximum.”
As the covid virus continues to spread and mutate, it is clear that the disease is becoming milder. Although nobody in history has ever masked for colds, one Oregon public health official is still bitterly clinging to masks that don’t work.
The COVID-19 subvariant, omicron BA.2, is on the hunt according to Dr. Jennifer Vines, the Multnomah County health officer.
“It’s finding people whose immunity has worn off from the original omicron wave, it’s finding people who have yet to be infected or encounter the COVID virus,” Vines said. “And it’s making them sick – not terribly sick, it’s still a mild virus for the most part.”
Given the disruptions and discomfort caused by getting sick, the Multnomah County Health Department recently suggested that people consider wearing a mask in public places. However, Vines said, that recommendation is more of a standard public health message about reducing one’s risk of getting sick than a warning that COVID-19 is about to run rampant again.
And if masks don’t work on an airborne virus, they are not apt to be effective for a virus that spreads by direct contact with infected bodily fluids. Yet, the Centers for Disease is now recommending wearing masks during travel for the prevention of monkeypox.